One of my complaints with the SC games

[Dewm 177]

This could easily go into the SC2013 forum, or even Boomtown. But I thought it more fitting here because I am referencing this game in particularly.

One of my largest problems with SC4 (but in reality all of the SC games) are the road sizes, compared to houses and whatnot. This has bothered me for awhile, but I haven't been able to put my thumb on it until a few days ago. In most towns/cities I've been in streets are around 40ft wide, now assuming the streets in SC4 are supposed to be a "standard street" they are 40ft wide, now compare that with the "standard homes" in SC4, most homes in SC4 are 35ft x 15ft (give or take a few feet), now that is a really small home. And even most "town-homes" (in a small community) come on a quarter acre.

Anyways, all of this was kinda bugging me, because I've been "trying" to build realistic looking roads, and for towns it ends up looking like its 90% roads. They are so big,

/rant

[Halen Of Dania 350]

Alot bothers me about simcity 4 just in genreal , that's where custom content comes in, bat basically saved the sim city from becoming one of those "forgotten games" so to speak. but glad it was saved!!

:|

  Edited May 3, 2012 by halenbyname  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

This could easily go into the SC2013 forum, or even Boomtown. But I thought it more fitting here because I am referencing this game in particularly.

One of my largest problems with SC4 (but in reality all of the SC games) are the road sizes, compared to houses and whatnot. This has bothered me for awhile, but I haven't been able to put my thumb on it until a few days ago. In most towns/cities I've been in streets are around 40ft wide, now assuming the streets in SC4 are supposed to be a "standard street" they are 40ft wide, now compare that with the "standard homes" in SC4, most homes in SC4 are 35ft x 15ft (give or take a few feet), now that is a really small home. And even most "town-homes" (in a small community) come on a quarter acre.

Anyways, all of this was kinda bugging me, because I've been "trying" to build realistic looking roads, and for towns it ends up looking like its 90% roads. They are so big,

/rant

It's a game, and things are scaled to make it work. Reality wasn't part of the model. Most road allowances are one surveyor's chain wide (66 feet) in the real world, and really wide streets tend to be two chains. However, remember standard road sizes are based on the Roman chariot, which was just wide enough for two horses abreast. This particularly applies to railroad gauges.

[Titanicbuff 1,262]

If it weren't for custom content- The game would not be worth the money- Take for instence the Maxis buildings- Dull borning and sometimes oversized, and the people at 4 m instead of the 1.8 meters.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

*sigh* If you want realism you are in the wrong shop. This is a game intended to be an entertaining pass time, not a sculpture garden.

[T Wrecks 10,209]

Still, the general observation is legit: The entire SimCity series has a history of scale issues. Buildings, road/rail networks, Sims, and vehicles are incoherent not only measured against surrounding elements of different categories (e.g. Sims vs. buildings), but also within the same category (e.g. buildings vs. buildings).

Some (if not most) of these scale issues can probably be attributed to historical system limitations. Now as computer systems become more and more powerful, one way to choose would be to use the new resources to scale all game elements halfways correctly. The other way to choose would be to stick to the scale issues, but improve the graphics of that scale mess... they might stick to the latter way. :| I still think a compromise could be possible, i.e. a bit more "scale discipline", even if it's not to the point of total realism.

[gutterclub 2,729]

They should of scaled everything (apart from airports/power stations etc) RL +133%, added the Z6 (HD feature), that way you could zoom right into small houses and small streets and roads. Should of also had a hide option to hide items so you can see others easily..

[Dewm 177]

Still, the general observation is legit: The entire SimCity series has a history of scale issues. Buildings, road/rail networks, Sims, and vehicles are incoherent not only measured against surrounding elements of different categories (e.g. Sims vs. buildings), but also within the same category (e.g. buildings vs. buildings).

Some (if not most) of these scale issues can probably be attributed to historical system limitations. Now as computer systems become more and more powerful, one way to choose would be to use the new resources to scale all game elements halfways correctly. The other way to choose would be to stick to the scale issues, but improve the graphics of that scale mess... they might stick to the latter way. :| I still think a compromise could be possible, i.e. a bit more "scale discipline", even if it's not to the point of total realism.

Hopefully they have fixed this in SC2013.. we'll see

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Hindsight is always 20/20. It is indeed annoying when creating a BAT to have to remember to stretch the vertical scale for the over-tall sprites. How-some-ever, I have become accustomed to taking things as they are, and not wishing for things I know I can't get. I guess it comes with age and patience.

[NCGAIO 562]

*sigh* If you want realism you are in the wrong shop. This is a game intended to be an entertaining pass time, not a sculpture garden.

Not so it began ... and many of the answers about the"problems" simcity are found precisely in the history of its creation.

For those who would like to know more I recommend reading the link below, which is less tedious and more informative than the various texts on the net about it!

http://www.will-wright.com/willshistory4.php

[elavery 1,013]

The widness of the roads is why I use Lot Editor to create cramped inner cities, I don't even use any roads alot of the time. Now this of course means that parts of the city are eye-candy only and not functional which may be an issue for those who actually 'play' the game.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I actually play and produce some pretty tight towns. I have many downloaded 1 x 1 and 2 x 1 lots.

[nycsc4 5,250]

I have to say I think the Maxis buildings are quite nice...when plopped. I've found most of them, especially the larger ones, are very detailed and some even have amazing architecture. When grown and you get multiple lots of the same building, and this sporadic development then they don't look as good. But using them in plop mode, I've found them to be some of my most favorite buildings. I also plop my entire cities. I am still able to run the simulation, but lets just say, my computer doesn't like it. I also think the roads are rather normal, but boring. NWM and othe NAM creations make all roads in SC4 more realistic.

[SC4Fanatic 3]

Well, SC4 is a simulation game; it was never meant to replace reality in any way.

Roads/streets are way too wide in SC4 and there are many restrictions in the game: ever tried to build a diagonal street that crosses or connects to a diagonal one-way road? It's impossible in SC4. Even with additions like the NAM.

SC4 uses a grid-system and for sure this has its limitations. Having said this, it's still a fantastic game and I really enjoy it.

The perfect game to build cities would be a mixture of SC4 and Cities XL 2011/2012. SC4 for region play and Cities XL for the maximum flexibility (all types of road possible, no grid system, all angles available when building roads/streets/highways). And even then there would be restrictions and limitations. It is still a game, not a replacement of the real world.

My personal list of annoyances is (for SC4):

1. You can't connect diagonal streets to diagonal one way roads;

2. You can't make a connection to other cities with one way roads (normally not a problem, but it sometimes is when you want to build a megapolis);

3. You can't build diagonal bridges (NAM puzzle pieces help a bit, but still then there are many limitations);

4. Diagonal road (road, one way road, avenue, highway) connections to other cities are impossible;

5. Street connections to other cities are impossible.

6. In many ways the game is not realistic. Why do I have to build so many hospitals, police stations, fire stations? In the real world a town I live in would only have one hospital, one police station and one fire station.

7. Why do I always have a full red box in the environment section (city polls) even after adding many trees, parks and handling the garbage? (I even get the message that the sims take pride in the clean streets).

8. Last and certainly not least: building don't align with diagonal roads/streets (they do in Cities XL).

Apart from these annoyances, SC4 is still a great game and I really like it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Like many programs I didn't write, I live within the limitations. I don't think with all the various capabilities associated with the NAM that I have exhausted more than about half of them.